


Smithing Hearts

by DragonSaphiraReads



Series: Fluffuary 2020 [26]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: heartsmith au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22882930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSaphiraReads/pseuds/DragonSaphiraReads
Summary: Roman is a heartsmith, the best in the business. His secret is that he puts a little of himself into every repair he does. He doesn’t get anything back, until he receives two orders back to back that are unlike anything he’s ever done before.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan
Series: Fluffuary 2020 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619986
Comments: 1
Kudos: 62





	Smithing Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Like listening to podfics? You can listen to this oneshot on my YT channel here https://youtu.be/fcFPH7k3nTI

Virgil clutched his parcel to his chest, hurrying through the busy streets as his eyes darted back and forth. He was looking for a specific shop, one he had only heard about through hushed conversation. It wasn’t a place he had ever wanted to go to, but he couldn’t deny anymore that he needed help. 

A small wooden sign hanging over an unassuming door caught his eye, and he double checked that nobody was watching him before he ducked into the shop. 

A cheerful bell announced his arrival, and a young man stood up from his workbench to greet him. He had dark skin and messy brown hair, with a smear of something across his forehead.

“H-hello, are you the heartsmith?”

The young man grinned, taking a small bow. “The best around! I’m Roman, how can I help you?”

Virgil tensed - the cheery smile facing him was overwhelming. “W-Well, I... I’m getting married in a few weeks...”

“Oh, really? Well congratulations! That’s wonderful!”

He swallowed, picking at the paper around his parcel. “Y-Yeah, well, it’s... not all that great, actually.”

He set it down, carefully unwrapping the paper and cradling the object inside. Virgil heard the other man draw in a soft breath through his teeth, and he nodded. 

“It’s been like this for as long as I can remember... But the cracks have only gotten bigger in the last few months, and I can’t fix them.”

“I see. May I hold it?” 

Virgil nodded, handing his broken heart over. “So... do you think you can fix it?”

There was silence as the heartsmith turned it over and over in his hands, gently prodding at the dark cracks that ran through the very center of it. Then he looked up and smiled confidently. “Of course I can! And not to worry, I’ll have it done before your wedding, I guarantee it!”

“Really?! You think you can do it? But it’s been broken forever!”

Roman shook his head. “I’ve never met a heart that I can’t fix! Stop by in a few days and I’ll have it ready for you!”

“T-Thank you, I will!”

~

Roman got to work as soon as Virgil left. Despite his feigned confidence, he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to meet his promise. He’d fixed a lot of cracked hearts in his time, but this was something entirely different. The heart on his table now was practically in two pieces, held together by pure willpower. 

He could only imagine what Virgil had gone through in his life to cause such sizable cracks. 

The heartsmith tightened his toolbelt, taking a seat and getting to work. Nothing would get fixed if he just sat there thinking about it, after all!

His shop didn’t have any windows besides the little glass cutout in the door, so he didn’t know what time it was when he heard the door open again. He’d gotten into a rhythm, fixing the smaller cracks that he knew he _could_ fix before tackling the bigger ones. 

Roman stood up from his stool, stretching before turning towards the door and greeting the man standing there. He was well-dressed and standing with his back straight - probably from a wealthy family, if he had to guess. 

“Welcome! How can I help you?”

The man cleared his throat, setting a small box down on the counter. 

“I have heard you are capable of fixing broken hearts, is that correct?”

Roman raised an eyebrow. “That it is! I’m a heartsmith, it’s my job!”

The man swallowed, his eyes darting down at the box on the table. “Are... you able to fix a heart that has never been able to love?”

The heartsmith blinked as the man reached for the box, taking off the lid and carefully lifting the heart inside it. Roman bit his tongue to keep from gasping - how was it possible for a heart to look so dull?

“It has been like this since I can remember. I always thought it would fix itself with time, but I’m getting married soon and it has not changed at all...”

He sighed, clasping his heart over his chest. A small, sad smile graced his lips as he stared at the empty box, his eyes unfocused. 

“My fiancee is such a wonderful person... and I want to be able to be a good husband, but I cannot do that if I’m unable to love...”

Roman tried to discreetly wipe away a tear. He was a romantic, and a sucker for the stories that his customers came in with. “I’ll fix it!”

“Y-You’re sure you can?”

Roman bobbed his head. “Yes, I know I can! Please, allow me to help you!”

He nodded, placing his heart back in the box and allowing Roman to take it. “Thank you.”

“Thank me when you come to pick it up! Come by in a couple days and check on it!”

“I will see you then.”

~

After the man left - he learned that his name was Logan - Roman locked the door to the shop and turned the “Open” sign to “Closed”. He needed all the time he had allotted himself if he was going to fix both of these hearts. 

He had to let Virgil’s heart sit - the special glue used in his craft took hours to dry, and he didn’t want to risk breaking it further by handling it before it was done. 

Roman set Logan’s heart down on his worktable, spending a minute to observe it. He had seen dim hearts before, during his training with his mentor, but never one as dull as this. Usually, a dull heart was the result of isolation after many years, and only seen in older hearts. But Logan couldn’t be much older than Roman himself, and yet...

Roman sighed, grabbing his tools and setting them to the side, getting them ready. He would be pulling a few long nights to fix it, but he would get it done. He had promised them he would, and Roman didn’t plan on breaking his promises. 

~

The heartsmith was practically asleep at his workbench when Virgil arrived several days after their first meeting. The chiming of the door bell woke him up, and he rubbed at his eyes and smiled sleepily at the worried-looking young man. 

“Are you alright?” Virgil asked, and Roman nodded. 

“Peachy! I was up late working, but it was worth it.”

Roman grabbed his heart and offered it to him, hearing Virgil gasp audibly. 

“No way... how did you do this?! It looks like it’s brand new!”

The heartsmith beamed, a hand over his chest. “I pride myself in my work! I promised you I would fix it, didn’t I?”

“Y-Yeah, but I didn’t think... this is incredible! Thank you!”

Virgil stared unbelieving at his heart, tears in his eyes. Roman smiled, but the door opening behind them took his attention as his other customer walked in. 

“Oh, Logan, come in! Perfect timing, I just finished your heart as well!” Roman grinned, running to his workbench and making sure that everything was dry and set. 

“...Logan?”

“Virgil? What are you doing here?”

Roman blinked, turning around to see his two customers staring at each other with confusion and a little bit of fear in their eyes. All at once, he realized that they were the “fiancee” they each spoke about. 

“I... I wanted to... make sure that I could love you... I’ve been in bad relationships in the past, and they’ve left me unable to trust people... but I wanted to be a good husband! Because... you deserve it...”

Logan reached out and took Virgil’s hand, running his thumb along his knuckles. “And you deserve someone who’s capable of loving you!”

“W-What?”

“My heart... it’s never been able to love... I never thought it was an issue, until I met you. And I didn’t want you to know I had come here, because...”

“Because you both deserve each other.” Roman interjected, handing Logan his heart before stepping back. The minute he saw the brilliant red his heart was glowing, Logan started sobbing. 

“Aww, L...” Virgil murmured, pulling his fiancee into a tight hug with tears in his own eyes. 

Roman could only stand by and watch as they collected themselves, leaving him with a large sum of cash and an imprint of their smiles in his mind. 

After they left, he locked the door behind them and sat down on his stool, reaching for his own heart that was sitting there. 

If his mentor was still alive, he knew he would scold him for how he handled the tougher jobs. Roman had always been told to guard his own heart, to not let his feelings get in the way of his work. 

He laughed softly, cradling his dimming heart close to his chest. It was laced with cracks large and small, filled with golden glue. “Sorry sir, maybe I wasn’t cut out for this job after all.”

~

Roman kept the shop closed for a week or so after he fixed Virgil and Logan’s hearts. He had fallen ill from using his own heart to fix theirs, more so than normal since he had fixed two hearts instead of just one. 

He took a walk late one night when the streets were mostly empty. The air was clear, and it helped to lift the heaviness in his chest. 

There were a few couples walking in the park with him, and there was one he recognized a little too late. 

“Roman!” Virgil waved at him, walking hand in hand with Logan directly towards him. Roman quickly looked around for an escape route, but there were no branching paths and he had to accept his fate and face them with a fake smile. 

“You two are out late!” He commented lightly. 

“As are you. We tried to stop by earlier this week to thank you again for your incredible work, but it seemed like you were closed?” Logan asked. 

Roman scratched the back of his neck. “Heh, yeah, I just got a little cold, that’s all!”

Logan hummed, then he and Virgil shared a glance. “I see... well, there was actually something we wanted to tell you, besides thanking you for your hard work.”

“And what’s that?”

Virgil took a slow breath, smiling nervously. “After we met you... neither of us could quite get you out of our heads.”

Roman raised an eyebrow as Logan finished the thought. 

“We were wondering... if you might be interested in going on a date with us?”

“But... I thought you were getting married!”

They both smiled. “We are. But there’s room for one more... if you want.”

Roman had to let it sink in for a moment, but he didn’t take longer than he needed to agree. 

Somehow, the weight in his chest seemed to disappear the moment he started walking side by side with the two of them.


End file.
